NPS Form 10-900 (3-82) OMB No. 1024-0018 Expires 10-31-87 United States Department of the Interior For NPS use only National Register of Historic Places received MAR I I 1986 Inventory—Nomination Form date entered APR I 0 J9B See instructions in How to Complete National Register Forms Type all entries—complete applicable sections______1. Name historic and or common Koza Building 2. Location street & number 115 South Dubuque not for publication city, town City vicinity of state Iowa code 019 county Johnson code 103 3. Classification

Category Ownership StatUS Present Use district public xx occupied agriculture museum xx building(s) xx private unoccupied xx commercial park structure both work in progress educational private residence site Public Acquisition Ace essible entertainment religious object __ in process xx yes: restricted government scientific being considered yes: unrestricted industrial transportation N/A ——— no military other: 4. Owner off Property name Roy Koza street & number 340 Hutchinson Avenue city, town Iowa City vicinity of state Iowa 52240 5. Location off Legal Description courthouse, registry of deeds, etc. County Recorder's Office street & number Johnson County Courthouse city, town Iowa City state Iowa 52240 6. Representation in Existing Surveys title N/A has this property been determined eligible? yes no date federal state county local depository for survey records city, town state 7. Description

Condition Check one Check one deteriorated __ unaltered ^21 original site X>L_ good __ ruins J«L altered ——moved date __ fair __ unexposed

Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance

The Franklin Printing House is a three story commercial brick building located in downtown Iowa City. Its early date of construction (1856), its intact second and third floor facade and cornice line in combination with the restored lower level storefront make this building an excellent example of pre-Civil War commercial architecture in the city.

The building is three stories high, of clear span construction, with a slightly pitched roof. It is rectangular on plan measuring 27 by 61 feet. It is constructed of an orange-colored common brick, laid in a running bond on the front, with a Dutch bond on the side and rear walls. The interior plan consists at present of an open first floor storefront with rear storage/work area, a straight stairway in the northeast front of the plan, and apartments on the upper two floors.

The present facade consists of recently remodeled storefront level with raised large display awindow and transom, and two right-hand side entrances, one servicing the store, the other the upper floors. Fenestration above consists of three windows which are symmetrically arranged on each floor level. Metal pedimented hood molds with side brackets cap each window. The metal cornice is set above a corbelled brick raised plane and consists of an ornate frieze, a band of dentils, a row of modillions and the cornice itself. The cornice is of interest in that its lower components turn into the front wall plane at each end resulting in a centered visual effect.

The south side wall is fully though irregularly fenestrated. The windows on three levels are generally vertically alligned, and each level of windows consists of seven bays. Beginning from the rear of the building, an in wall chimney separates the first two bays. Second and third floor windows in the third and fourth bays were shortened. The lower windows with one exception were also shortened and infilled with cube glass. Brick arches on this level are jack arches, executed in brick. A rear side door or double door apparently was sited on the alley side. The side parapet wall with tiled coping, steps down in two stages along the side wall as the roof level descends toward the west or rear. Star bolts reinforce the side wall at each floor level corner.

The rear wall is stuccoed and reveals only two separated windows per floor. Most likely this wall plane was fully fenestrated originally with four windows per level. A basement entrance area with exterior stair is presently buried beneath a concrete block flat-roofed rear addition which connects this building to 111 S. Dubuque to the north. A small single story rear porch or addition appears in the Sanborn maps after 1879 and remains through 1912.

In spite of the forces of change the Franklin Printing House has retained much of its original character. In the recent past, it has been known as 115 South Dubuque Street. It blends in quite nicely with the tree-lined, brick-paved walking mall that was installed in the late 1970's. In 1984 the storefront was remodeled, and during 8. Significance

Period Areas of Significance--Check and justify below prehistoric archeology-prehistor ic - _ community planning landscape architecture, .religion 1400-1499 _ __ archeology-historic __ conservation louu science 1500-1599 agriculture __ economics _ _ literature __ sculpture 1600-1699 xx architecture __ education _. _ military __ social/ 1700-1799 art ..._... engineering __ music humanitarian _5cx 1800-1 899 xx commerce , _ . exploration/settlement philosophy theater __ . 1900- __ communications „ _ industry politics/government transportation __. _ invention other (specify)

Specific dates £?gKr?§56 1856 " 71 Builder/Architect Unknown Statement of Significance (in one paragraph) Criteria: C, Architecture A, Commerce/Journalism The Franklin Printing House (1856), built to house the Iowa Capitol Reporter during Iowa City's brief reign as the state capital, is significant as the sole surviving commercial building built for newspaper work and associated with a notable early newspaper in that city. It is also significant by virtue of its very survival in relatively unaltered condition as a pre-Civil War Iowa City commercial structure.

The Daily Reporter of 12 September 1856 noted the completion of the new quarters for the paper. "Notice is hereby given that the CAPITAL REPORTER Office is now removed to its new quarters on Dubuque Street...Our friends will bear this in mind and save themselves the trouble of disturbing the antiquated splendor of our late hiding place, by dropping without further ceremony into the "Franklin Printing House." The editor's office was in the rear of the first floor where he could be found seated "on is three legged throne." The composition room was a 20' by 60' open space on the second floor, the press room was in the basement. The paper concluded its description of the new quarters stating "In a word the "Franklin," built expressly for our own use, well adapted to the carrying on of the great Philosopher's immortal art— "heaven born" like his own famed lightning — is about the best establishment all things considered, to be found west of Chicago." The previous "offices" of the paper had included a location which the editor described as a "bleak and ghastly place." It was followed by quarters which collapsed into an adjacent excavation and the employees "narrowly escaping with life and limb, we emerged from the ruins with a few broken cases, mangled presses and tubs of lime eaten type." Finally the previous quarters were a "vermin-haunted tenement...where we have been parched with the dust, mired in the mud, bitten with the bugs and "frozen and thawed" like an apple f6r thirteen months." Lastly, the paper called for continued support from its patrons. "And insomuch as our surroundings are so much improved, we hope for abilities and disposition to be more to the advantage, interest and satisfaction of our patrons and we hope above all as to their increased liberality."

The Franklin Printing House building, now known as 115 South Dubuque, was built as a newspaper and printing establishment. Two prominent state newspapers occupied it from its construction in 1856 until the mid-1870's. They were the Iowa Capital Reporter, for which the building was constructed, and the Iowa Standard . Both papers moved to Iowa City in the early 1840's while the new capital city was being established, bringing with them opposing political views.

The Iowa Capital Reporter's significance lies in the fact that it won the competition to be the official printer of the legislators. This put a second democratic paper, the Iowa Citv Argus, out of business and dimmed the Iowa Standard's progress. The History of Johnson County states "When the first session of the territorial legislature met in Iowa City (winter of 1841-42) there was a red-hot contest among these three printing officers for the State printing. The Burlington party, or Van Antwerp & Hughes, of the Capitol Reporter office, won the stake. This left Dr. Jackson and his Argus "out of a job," so to speak; and in a short time he sold out to 9. Major Bibliographical References

Refer to Continuation Sheet 9-2.

10. Geographical Data Acreage of nominated property less than one acre Quadrangle name Iowa City West Quadrangle scale 1/24,000 UT M References

A |1 ,5 | | 6| 2, 2| 1, 2, C| | 4, 6| 1, 2[8j 0| o| b | I 1 I I 1 i ,1,1 Zone Easting Northing Zone Easting North ing

Cl , 1 1 1 i 1 . , I | , | , | , , | D Ld 1 | 1 I 1 1 1 1 I I El , 1 1 1 , 1 , , 1 1 , 1 , | f| | F Ld 1 I i i I | i | i i Gl , 1 1 1 . 1 . , 1 1 , 1 , | , , | H LJ U I i i 1 I , 1 , . Verbal boundary description and justification Twenty feet off of the south end of the East seventy feet of Lot One, Block Eighty-One, Original Town, Iowa City. Contains subject property only.

List all states and counties for properties overlapping state or county boundaries state N/A______code______county______code______

state______code______county______code______11. Form Prepared By______Form: James E. Jacobsen, National Register Coordinator name/title Text; Gerald Mansheim, West Branch, Iowa.______, Iowa Office of Historic Preservation organization Iowa State Historical Department______date_____February 27, 1986______

street & number E. 12th & Grand Ave.______telephone 515-281-4137______

city or town____Des Moines______state_____Iowa 50319______12. State Historic Preservation Officer Certification The evaluated significance of this property within the state is: ______national______state____xxx local______As the designated State Historic Preservation Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89- 665), I hereby nominate this property for inclusion in the National Register and certify that it has been evaluated according to the criteria and procedures set forth by the National Park Service.

State Historic Preservation Officer signature

title Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer FbrNPS use only I hereby certify that this property is included in the National Register

of the National Register

Attest-______date Chief of Registration GPO 91 1-390 NFS Form 10-900-a OMB No. 1024-0018 Expires 10-31-87 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form

Continuation sheet Description Item number 7 Page 2

the construction, two elegant cast iron columns were discovered. These two columns became the basis for the design for the current storefront. In 1984 the shop front was removed and a period front was put in its place. During this process two cast iron columns were discovered, and they were incorporated into the new design.

Five large basement windows which originally provided light for the newspaper press room have been sealed with concrete block. Other numerous alterations of the south side alleyway fenestration are also evident. Two apartments per floor were added at an unspecified date (post 1900).

The Franklin Printing House is one of a handful of 19th Century commercial buildings that have survived relatively intact in Iowa City, after a large urban renewal program removed entire blocks of that building stock. This building stands in direct association with several other notable downtown structures, 111 S. Dubuque to the immediate north dates to 1858, and would potentially be eligible for nomination to the National Register if its facade was restored. Diagonally across the street to the southeast, a double fronted c. 1880 double fronted building with a mansard roof has been restored. One block south, the College Block Building (1878) was also fully restored. Other pre-Civil War commercial and public buildings which remain in Iowa City include the first State Capitol (1842+), the Park House Hotel (1852) (Dubuque and Jefferson Streets) and the Building (1856) at Linn and Market. Lastly, the Sanxay Building (1856) is located at S. Clinton and Washington Streets.

The Franklin Printing House and the other surviving nineteenth century buildings were part of the permanent development of the city that established an eight-square-block commercial district that was to remain primarily the same in size until the modern period. The majority of these brick buildings were three bays wide, and three or two stories high, fully utilizing the rectilinear lot plan of the original city. This urban growth paralleled the national trend of industrial and agricultural expansion. Fires and remodeling have eliminated the vast majority of these buldings. Post World War II redelopment, beginning in the mid 1960's, nearly completed this process of replacement.

Documenting the historical association and this building:

The location of the new building which was built by the Capital Reporter is proven by numerous sources. An 1850's real estate map places newspaper owners R. H. Sylvester, Edmond and Edgar Harrison as owning this lot. The local newspapers announce the building's completion as noted. The Weekly State Reporter on 8 September and 20 October note the completion of Bacon's three story building adjacent to and north of this building. Bacon's building is also separately documented. The 1868 Bird's Eye View of Iowa City shows the two three story buildings on South Dubuque Street. There is however no photographic evidence which shows this building prior to 1874 when the Sanborn Map first indicates its presence. Sanborn Maps thereafter indicate the NFS Form 10-900-a (342) 0MB No. 1024-0018 Expires 10-31-87 United States Department off the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form

Continuation sheet Description Item number Page

identical building as extant. Continuity of use and ownership links this building over the years.

The iron window hoods are identical with those present on the Sanxay Building, a structure documented to 1856 and photographically documented to have had the same hoods at that time. There is no indication structurally to indicate the addition of a third floor. Again, the 1868 view shows a three story building as do the Sanborns. It is likely that the third floor was repointed at some point in time.

The cornice apparently dates to prior to 1904 when a photograph shows the preent one in place. The 1874 Sanborn indicates the presence of a metal cornice, those subsequent ones brick cornice. The latter cover the period during which the present cornice is known to have been present. NFS Form 10-900-a 0MB No. 1024-0018 (3-82) Expires 10-31-87 United States Department off the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form

Continuation sheet Significance Item number 8 Page

the Reporter office and went back to Indiana, "unwept, unhonored, and unsung."

After the creation of the Republican Party the Whig Iowa Standard became the Iowa Citv Republican in 1848. By the 1860's the political climate had changed and the Iowa Capital Reporter was sold and the Iowa Citv Republican took over its building. This abrupt change reflected national events at a local level. Iowa City democrats were described as "hot."

A meeting was held with the hope of reorganizing the Reporter or possibly a new paper. After a series of setbacks John P. Irish who was later to become a prominent democrat and a candidate for governor, became editor of the democratic State Press in 1864 and in the early 1870's he built a similar building south and just across the alley from the old Franklin Printing Office (Irish's building was removed during the urban renewal period.) The Iowa Capital Reporter and the State Press are considered ancestors of the current Iowa City Press Citizen. The Iowa Citv Republican, which lasted into the early part of the 20th Century, moved to larger quarters in the mid-1870's leaving the Franklin Printing House Building to be occupied by a saloon. Saloon use continued through 1899, and was "Frenchy's" Saloon in 1892. F. B. Volkringer operated the saloon through 1898, succeeded by T. F. Hall. In 1899 Hawkeye Brush Works occupied the uppermost floor (there through 1907) and a cigar factory the second floor. McGovern and Bischoff Clothing used the second floor beginning in 1901. McGuan Brothers opened a drug store on the first floor by 1907. By 1911 the building housed a host of firms, including a meeting hall, a law office, a wrecking company and a vacant first floor (front). John V. Koza's meat shop was on the first floor by 1912 and remained for some forty years. This firm has for many years occupied a shop at 208 North Linn. NPS Form 10-900-a OHB No. 1024-0018 (3-82) Expires 10-31-87 United States Department off the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form

Continuation sheet Bibliography Item number Page

Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, Iowa City, Iowa, 1874, 1879, 1883, 1888, 1899, 1906, 1912, and 1926. Sanborn Insurance Map Company, New York, New York.

Iowa Citv Daily Reporter. 12 September 1856.

History of Johnson County. Iowa. Iowa City; Republican Printing Company, 1883.

Works Progress Administration. Johnson County History. The Iowa Writer's Program of WPA, 1941.

Iowa City Directories, 1850-1913.